Concourse E

Georgia Divests from Sudan?

2009-02-09T10:35:00.006-05:00

Public employees in the state of Georgia won't be able to retire on profits from Sudanese investments, if a bill now in the Georgia House of Representatives is successful. HB 99 would require all public retirement systems in the state to divest holdings with any company that does business with the Khartoum government. Right now, a House second reading is pending; no vote is on the schedule yet.

Bill sponsors are Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta) and Wendall Willard (R-Sandy Springs).

Obviously I don't know how many public employees' retirement funds might be invested in Sudanese firms. Maybe a lot, maybe almost zero. But it's a good gesture, isn't it?

Most of the "worst offenders" for doing business with the government of Sudan are Chinese petrofirms, according to a report by the Sudan Divestment Task Force. That group is one of an international alliance which aims to use financial pressure to convince Khartoum to end the genocide in Darfur. Another "worst offender" is ABB, huh.

The report notes that other companies like Total, Schlumberger and GDF Suez have dealt in Sudan, but it's not clear if their current operations are inappropriately benefitting the regime. The group has a mutual fund screening tool to show if your mutual fund invests in Sudan.

Anyway, cheers to Brooks & Willard; call your Reps in support of HB 99.

In other news ...

Ever wondered what Russia tastes like? Vodka, art and business, apparently. Check out the Taste of Russia event put on by the Russian American Chamber of Commerce -- guest lecturers from the Smithsonian and an art sale and vodka tasting.

Ever wondered who plans Chinese cities? One Mr. Ma Xiangming, for one. He's talking about his experiences as a top urban planner in Guangdong province, in a lecture put on by the Georgia China Alliance and the Ga Tech School of Architecture:

Event Information:

Topic: “China’s Pearl River Delta: A Mega City-Region in Transition” with guest speaker Mr. Xiangming ‘Sherman’ Ma, Urban Planner

Date: Thursday, February 12, 2009 @ 6:00 PM

Location: Georgia Institute of Technology College of Architecture

Architecture Library

West Architecture Building, First Floor

247 Fourth Street 30332

Atlanta, GA

RSVP: nikki.yu@georgiachina.com

Cost: FREE admission, parking not free

CS Monitor 6-part Feature on Int'l Community School

2009-01-06T09:48:00.002-05:00

And Little Bill Clinton from Congo ...

If you didn't even know Clarkston's population comes from the four corners of the earth, and what it means to have it so bad in your home country that the State Department can't in good conscience let you stay, have a read. Or if you did know it, it's a good read anyway.

Little Bill Clinton

Atlanta Beyond Boosters?

2008-12-30T19:50:00.020-05:00

Thanks to wordle.net,
Click for a bigger one. It's a word cloud of the words in the AJC's self-ranked most popular articles of Dec. 30. From 19 articles from: overall most popular, metro, business and sports.

Cyntha vs. Israel was number one in the first two categories. Thanks Cynthia, for international news on the front page. So on Dec. 30, this is what net users wanted out of the AJC.

But let's be fair, they say the future's in hyperlocal news. So ... a different publication will certainly give us a better idea of Atl's place in the world. What are GlobalAtlanta readers reading?

Their "most popular" stretch back to the beginning of Oct. n=14. Lots of "Arabic" due to UGA's new Arabic major.

And it's that Arabic major that shows Atlanta/Georgia another dimension.

We get excellent and good grades in two dimensions already. The first is marketing ourselves, for which GDEcD and MACOC wear a pair of crowns visible from Mars. Better we have Kia than Chrysler. The second is diplomatic recognition, like, please recognize us with a consulate or a bilateral chamber of commerce. If anyone's coming down here, it's us or Houston, so a passing grade on this one too.

But some other dimensions are lagging -- that's stuff like policy ideas, tech leadership, NGO or IGO ties and cultural exports. Now, we got some stars, no doubt. Universities are busy with stuff like GT CIBER's work on Chinese business culture or UGA CITS' dual-use technology / nonproliferation advice. And the Carter Center -- Jimmy will state his opinion on Palestine; those doctors over there are through the airport's concourse E as much as the ones at the CDC's Global Health. For NGOs/IGOs, I only know CIFAL. Holler back if there's more I can add. Or if you're hearing Dirty South sounds far from home. (It's time for something to supersede GWTW, y'all.) My other wish: Soul food and/or southern bbq ousts French haute cuisine as a city's mark of sophistication.

But anyway, can these non-paying kind of things make new dimensions in ATL? I like the Istanbul Center's busy agenda. And the dialog the India China America Institute is working on. But is Atlanta going to be fertile ground? Will we ever have something like the Asia Society or the Council on Foreign Relations?

We can make it, can't we?

More British Novels Join Emory

2008-12-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

Emory's acquired 699 copies of the same book - Robinson Crusoe. It's a gift from an alumnus, the man who literally wrote the bibliography of Crusoes. He knows of 1,198 total editions.

Anyway, these books by English novelist Daniel Defoe join the university's Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library. Filed with them are fatwa'd Indian Salman Rushdie's papers, love letters by British poet Ted Hughes, and parts of an Irish literary archive shared with Boston College. And there's life in them, what an assortment of characters sharing an unlikely space. No doubt at night when it's dark, they talk.

Korean retailer Mega Mart is still going to establish its first US store here, but it's running late, the AJC reports.

Finally, win a trip to Turkey -- if you're a kid:

During this Holiday Season, Istanbul Cente r would like to tell you all about one of our most exciting opportunities for students this academic year. In our annually-organized Art & Essay Contest, supported by the Georgia Department of Education, the United Nations and the Ministry of Education of Turkey, our partners are making this Contest the pre-eminent activity for students and teachers in Georgia middle and high schools! This Contest is about teaching kids how they can CHANGE THE WORLD! The Contest’s theme is indeed the Alliance of Civilizations,” an initiative of the United Nations.

For the winners of this Contest, the Minister of Education of Turkey is giving away FREE TRIPS TO TURKEY for the best 3 students in each category along with each student’s sponsoring teacher which means that the 12 top students and teachers get to go to TURKEY

Chinese Tourism in the Deep South?

2008-12-01T08:49:00.002-05:00

Georgia sent a delegation to the China International Travel Mart last week. Now that China allows its people to travel on group tours to the U.S., the number of Chinese tourists is expected to rise -- maybe to one million by 2011, according to this AJC report.

May it be so, but if Atlanta/the South is going to get a slice of that pie, our hoteliers have to learn something. Start with something as basic as tea & slippers in the rooms. Mandarin signage. Chinese food. Something that looks like Tara to serve as the GWTW attraction.

I talked to two upmarket hotel-runners, one from Ga., one from Fla on this very topic. One went to the École hôtelière de Lausanne to recruit a Chinese national -- snapped one up as soon as she graduated. The other -- well, when asked how he would accommodate guests who smoke, made a disgusted snort and sneered, "Well, they can go outside!" Sure, maybe they have to go outside, but that's a question he's going to have to prepare to answer hospitably . . .

A vice chair of China's National Tourism Administration is coming to town next week -- he's giving remarks at a dinner sponsored by China Professional Tours, a company based in Atlanta and led by Nick Qin . . . who knows all kinds of hospitality.

In other news . . .

Zoo Atlanta's baby panda will have its quasi-Chinese naming ceremony on Dec. 8. Concourse E endorses the name "Peanut", but you vote your own conscience.

The AJC reports on a Riverdale vigil for the victims of the Mumbai massacre.

A late add: A Chinese delegation is touring/visiting/inspecting/networking or something with the Atl logistics community this week, if this Craig's List post by the U.S-China Business Matchmaking Council is as it seems. My guess: air cargo.

That's it!

Thirty Years of Tourism

2008-11-24T17:04:00.012-05:00

After Thanksgiving, y'all gonna see some features featuring Jimmy Carter in Chinese media about the 30th anniversary of US-China diplomatic relations. Collective memory this side of the Pacific makes Nixon visiting Mao the iconic moment, but 13,000 miles away, it's different.

It was Deng vising Jimmy in Jan. 1979 that was the other half of the process, and it was Jimmy who signed the paper that transferred diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. So, for that side of the Pacific, that's the thing the importance of which cannot be understated.

Bonus Fact: Deng visited Atlanta right after his White House visit. What he saw: the Ford plant in Hapeville, MLK's tomb, Dobbins, plus the local chieftains. From the UPI dispatch: "[Mayor Maynard] Jackson proposed opening air service between Atlanta and Peking and urged Teng to consider placing a full-fledged consulate in the city". Time had a good long feature on the visit.

OK, otherwise . . .

In early December, look out for a Delta announcement about reduced international capacity . . .

Terracotta warriors, Egyptian pharaohs and now Himalayan weath deities . . .

Oh, one more: Next month, the Atlanta WTC is hosting a delegation from Equatorial Guinea which includes Ambassador Angue Ondo. The announcement claims the delegates will be ready to sign contracts on the spot for your services. Dec. 11. The forum is co-hosted by Ogooue Technology, an Atlanta IT consultancy. Just a few weeks ago, I happened to read the only mention I've ever read in my life about doing business in Equatorial Guinea. It's "hot", says the Economist, but not for the faint of heart.

Wish I had some non-China news. The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce is headquartered here. That's a longstanding fact, but still interesting.

Support Local Soy Sauce Industry

2008-11-17T23:52:00.008-05:00

This week I heard of what Coweta County says is the first Chinese FDI into Georgia, a soy sauce and fermented products factory in Newnan.

The Kingwasong soy sauce plant at the Shenandoah Industrial Park is scheduled to open in May 2009 -- pending resolution of visa problems. (But it's not clear which side is the source of the alleged problem.)

And three more Chinese companies are planning Ga. facilities, according to the ABC.

Coweta County Development Authority President Bill Harrison isn't kidding: the flip side (or the front side?) of his business card is all Mandarin.

In other news, a Roswell woman appointed herself both an ICE agent and a judge when she outed an undocumented US resident because of a delay of his selling his house to her, the AP reports. OK, he shouldn't have titled his house to his baby, but she shouldn't have posted signs in his yard reading, "An illegal alien owns this house."

Mandarin Oriental confirmed details on its Atlanta hotel/condo, the MACOC would have you know. Act now to get pre-construction discounts of $200,000.

And China Daily covered the terracotta warrior exhibit at the High. CCTV was also there and I don't know who else as far as internationals.

Most finally, reader Bill posted a comment about hawala. I asked my friend who is a boss refugee case worker in Clarkston if she knows about this. She reacted like: "What is that?" Which may just mean there's no problems with it that have made it to her desk. (And all the problems make it to her desk.)

Chinese Army Invades Atlanta

2008-11-08T23:34:00.003-05:00

Well the news is the Terracotta Warriors exhibit opens this weekend, so during this week, the VIPs are throwing private parties with the already-arranged statues. The VIPs are the sponsors like GE, UPS & Delta. Chinese ambassador Zhou Wenzhong is in town, as is Shaanxi province vice governor Jing Junhai. And everybody in Atlanta is pushing Amb. Zhou on a Chinese embassy for Atlanta. If it can be got by city & business agitating for it, Atlanta'll get it. (I wonder if other cities are like this?) But on all of this, I've sold a story. Will post a link when it's published -- oughta be this week I think. Anyway, because I've sold a story I'm sleepy sleepy from running around after it today and tonight. And there's more to run after tomorrow. So no more except this:

Kilpatrick Stockton has opened an office in Dubai, the ABC reports. A few weeks ago, the Guardian had a stellar scary article on expat life in Dubai. In a lot of Asia, the western expat's western passport often means better treatment than the locals. The passport stands for money to pay better and the backing of an embassy in case of legal shenanigans. The passport also means paying the expat premium, but if it's billed back to the company, no one cares. Anyway, Dubai ain't that life! And what's this credit crunch going to do to their property market?

Take that, Cairo!

2008-11-03T23:39:00.000-05:00

Atlanta is better than Cairo, not quite as good as Copenhagen, according to Foreign Policy magazine 's 2008 Global Cities survey. Overall 37th of 60, and cozily in about the middle of each of the five measures. And of these five (without reading the fine print), which one got Atlanta the best score?

A) Business activity
B) Human capital
C) Information exchange
D) Cultural experience
E) Political engagement

I'll be darned if it isn't D, "cultural experience," 21st in the world. D: "the level of diverse attractions for international residents and travelers. That includes everything from how many major sporting events a city hosts to the number of performing arts venues it boasts." The finer print says it includes culinary offerings, museums and number of international travelers.

? Well, I could see it . . . if the traveler has a car! How many times have you, dear Atl resident, said this: "Well, if you've already been to the Aquarium, uh . . . there's . . . The World of Coke?" Then your voice trails off and you end up leaving your car keys to your guests while you go to work.

And do our "major sporting events" like NFL and MLB earn the same score as say, an IAAF Golden League event? An F1 Grand Prix race?

I won't haggle on cuisine, especially if it is classified among the travelers' attractions: Ghetto Burger, anyone?

Aside from that, this week the Alliance Francaise and the French American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta put on a publicity event ahead of their Nov. 20 Beaujolais Nouveau party/auction. Beaujolais Nouveau: drink it fresh. Fruity Christmas wine is fermenting in France now. Escargot were on offer . . . and I ate one! Thanks for the encouragement, Helene! (But I didn't tell her I found it way too salty.)

So in other news...

Sonny Perdue is selling Georgia as the new home of AFRICOM HQ, the AJC reports. Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Fort McPherson or Fort Gillem should be the site for the joint command center in charge of military relations with Africa and the (small) number of troops posted to Africa, says he.

Delta/Northwest: "It’s the biggest business news since Atlanta won the Olympics, because it really connects us to the global economic capitals more than any city on Earth,” Atlanta CoC president Sam Williams tells the ABC.

I was never worried Delta would leave Atl; just because it's bigger than NWA and besides, the CoC wouldn't let it happen. "They'd run out on the runway and lay in front of the planes before Delta could leave Atlanta," was how I heard it put.

We're on the World's Map . . . but is the World on Ours?

2008-10-28T21:08:00.003-04:00

Turkey's Minister of State for Foreign Trade & Customs Kursad Tuzmen visited Atlanta earlier this month, escorted in part by the Atlanta Istanbul Center and Kennesaw State University. He did a dinner to inaugurate the Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast, a briefing at the Southern Center plus a KSU visit (for the Year of Turkey).

And today itself, Governor Sonny Perdue had a lesson on how to celebrate Diwali from . . . the India ambassador, I believe. Why "I believe"? Because a local Indian reporter mentioned it to me, but I forgot who exactly the Indian dignitary is -- and no place is covering the visit, so no way to check!

So, those two visits go right under Atlanta's radar.

I'm not going to join the local-major-media haters. I don't actually hate AJC & the local channels; I use 'em for news on local items and enjoy 'em. I suppose they've done market research & found people don't want this kind of news?

But, like, when I graduated from Ga. Tech School of International Affairs not so long ago, I thought the only possible "international affairs" employer in Atlanta was CNN. And I could be forgiven for having thought that. The young graduates today maybe still think the same thing. Too bad, because it's not true.

An aside on KSU; I keep seeing their logo/name out at events. "Kennesaw?", I'd thought, "that's like 20 miles from Atlanta." Turns out, though, that doesn't matter; they're busy as heck -- seems to have to do with Dr. Daniel Papp. Give that man some more awards!

Teaching for Pandas

2008-10-27T00:39:00.013-04:00

When Grant Park resident Mei Lan was born, all of Atlanta was compelled to be dazzled; at least according to the news that reached my half-distracted ear for a period I vaguely recall in 2006. When her mother Lun Lun got pregnant again, Zoo Atlanta installed a panda cam and rehired their PR rep to make sure we'd all be part of the birth. Awww...

Aww, well, it's probably cute for kids. And not only cute, but educational: gets 'em thinking about animal care, conservation, ecosystems, all kinds of scientfico-stuff. And actually, that seems to be the point.

You know at zoos here, we have all kinds of nice signs with easy words or cartoony factoids about animal life? And interactive exhibits, like you can pet some animals? Or the zookeeper might bring some snakes to your school? Or students might can spend the night at the zoo? They're kind of lacking that at a lot of Chinese zoos. That's what someone somewhere noticed, told UPS, and UPS said they'd help underwrite Atlanta's borrowing of two Chinese pandas if they'd send staff to China to help teach their Chinese colleagues about how to make zoos more fun/educational.

So that's what Zoo Atlanta's Academy for Conservation Training has been working on since 1999. Some of our Zoo Atlanta staff go to China even several times a year to run the Academy; it has reached staff from some 27 zoos.

Most Chinese zoos are quite new, so have great facilities, one of ACT leaders tells me. But the signage is often a signboard dense with words -- no pictures, nothing to grab a kid's attention. So, that's just one example of something to improve.

Back here in Atl, the next life cycle event is the naming of "male", the baby panda born Aug. 30 this year. The panda will be named in a ceremony 100 days from his birth.

The ceremony will be billed as something of a Chinese tradition, but it is only very, very, loosely based on any kind of Chinese fact, the Zoo privately knows. Instead, it is more of a U.S. panda borrower's tradition, in recognition of the fact that lots of pandas die as cubs; save the publicity 'till you know it's going to live.

And was "male" ever in danger of dying? I hear the answer is "yes" . . . but he was saved by the panda expert sent over from Chengdu. Apparently that guy knows pandas and had the sense to handle it with his hands, in contradiction of the U.S. hands-off approach that tries to simulate the most natural/wild environment for the animal.

Other news . . .

Delta's announced a new route to Monrovia, Liberia. Pretty much direct from Atlanta except a stopover in Cape Verde. The press release includes a great line of praise from Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. At one time, the Liberian press here reported she has family in the metro area and visits privately rather frequently. Convenient route for her, then. No word yet on fare. The airline is also adding five new Latin American destinations from Atlanta origins; no comments from heads of state.

UPS is building a new air cargo hub in Shenzhen to replace one at Clark Air Base in the Philippines.

Unforseen Delay

2008-10-20T01:19:00.000-04:00

My second week back at blogging and I have to give it a miss. Personal reasons, as they say. And I already had my topic: what Zoo Atlanta is giving back to China in exchange for pandas. Also, I'm planning to add a "collation" of interesting news of the week ... apparently that's what makes some popular blogs popular. TTYL.

Seeking Special Relationship with Kuwait

2008-10-13T11:05:00.000-04:00

Participants in a new kind of enhanced trade mission are getting a pair of briefings on Kuwait's business norms ahead of the World Trade Center's first "International Business Initiative".

"[T]he International Business Initiative will do far more than open doors for introductions. Each initiative will be expected to produce tangible results for the participating organizations," according to a WTC statement about the January 2009 mission.

The pre-trip briefings in November and December will cover business culture, legal and accounting standards and buisness relationship development skills for Kuwait. The briefing is given by Vila McClam Mitchell, the woman at the head of corporate travel specalists Georgia International Travel.

The Atlanta WTC's partner in the American-Kuwaiti Alliance, a membership-based organization working to build U.S.-Kuwait relationships in business, culture and policy. An Alliance delegation visited Atlanta last year for an itinerary including a confab at the WTC, a panel discussion at the Halle Institute at Emory plus a meeting with Shirley Franklin at King & Spalding.

King & Spalding's website has an interesting wrinkle: "About Us"... in Arabic. Maybe for the benefit of partner offices in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.

The WTC itself is one of a network of 300+ WTCs worldwide, dedicated to those to develop and facilitate international trade. The one in Atlanta is on the first floor of SunTrust Plaza.

Other items...

Last Thursday night, the local Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (read: de facto consulate) held a reception to mark Double Ten Day, Taiwan's Oct. 10 National Day. This year was the 97th since the uprising began that would topple the Qing Dynasty.

Arrived-in-June TECO Director General Larry R.L. Tseng presided over the Georgia Aquarium Oceans Ballroom reception. Distinguished guests included Kwanza Hall, Thurbert Baker, Hinton Mitchem and Sue Everhart among others.

The entertainment came straight from Taiwan -- all of the whale sharks come from the waters around the island. The two new males brought in to replace the late Norton and Ralph are Taroko and Yushan, named for the deepest gorge and higest mountain in Taiwan.

Concourse E: Why?

2008-10-13T10:00:00.004-04:00

"As a reporter, here's something you need to know: No one is covering Atlanta international news like it needs."

So said a contact of mine over hors d'oeuvres after a small business conference at the World Trade Center.

"What do you mean? You've got the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Global Atlanta," says I.

"ABC is doing a better job these days, Global Atlanta does good too; but this is stuff more people need to know about," he says.

----

A few months of consideration later, enter Concourse E.

It is a blog of what a freelance reporter picks up on the job, but for which her employers haven't necessarily commissioned a story.

There are a lot of stories out there, I've found, following that tipooff. I don't know if there's an audience, but I keep my ear out at conferences, receptions, trade shows, lectures, wherever "freelance" is good enough for a media pass.

The vision is a weekly column-inspired blog, informal and chatty. It's a hobby to go along with what's out there and include background for neophytes.

The mission is a selection of/commentary on the doings in the international business, consular and cultural scene. What I finds, I writes.

I used to write another blog, Atlanta Global (picked the name before I knew what Global Atlanta was). This one is planned to be less frequent and thus more in-depth.

Obviously, nothing here represents the opinion of anyone who employs me.